For whom the Bell rolls: RB makes most of first carry

Monday

Nov 23, 2009 at 12:01 AMNov 23, 2009 at 10:06 PM

The Bears lost another game but may have found a backup running back. Kahlil Bell ran 72 yards on his first carry and finished with 81 yards on four carries in Sunday’s 24-20 loss to Philadelphia. He also had an 8-yard run and another 8-yarder that was called back by a penalty.

Matt Trowbridge

The Bears lost another game but may have found a backup running back.

Kahlil Bell ran 72 yards on his first carry and finished with 81 yards on four carries in Sunday’s 24-20 loss to Philadelphia. He also had an 8-yard run and another 8-yarder that was called back by a penalty.

“We thought he was a good football player,” coach Lovie Smith said. “The plan was to get him in early and see what he could do. I like what I saw from him his first time out.”

Bell is a 6-foot, 219-pound undrafted rookie free agent out of UCLA. The Vikings released him in August. The Bears promoted him off their practice squad Friday to replace Garrett Wolfe, who was placed on injured reserve for the season with a lacerated kidney.

Bell ran for 1,741 yards on 395 carries (4.3 average) in four seasons at UCLA.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten a chance to play live football, and to have a first carry like that was great,” Bell said. “The only thing that could have made it better was if I scored.”

Vick’s big run
Michael Vick had been inconsequential in his first nine games as an Eagle, gaining a total of 33 yards on 12 runs and seven pass attempts for an average gain of 1.7 yards. But the Bears still considered him dangerous.

“Michael hasn’t been a big factor in their offense, but he’s still Michael Vick,” Smith said during the week.

Going for it all
The Bears had no regrets about throwing deep on third-and-5 with under four minutes to play and trailing 24-20. Johnny Knox was open by two steps, but Jay Cutler overthrew him down the left sideline.

“We got the look we wanted and took a shot,” offensive coordinator Ron Turner said.